The agenda for the Thursday,  February 28, 2019, OC Fair Board (aka Orange County Fair and Event Center, OCFEC, 32nd District Agricultural Association) meeting has been published.  The Board meets at 9 AM at the Administration Building off Arlington Drive. If  you cannot make the meeting, please email comments to the Board Directors using the emails at the end of this post.

Agenda available here Download 19_02_February_Agenda1

Complete agenda packet available here https://ocfair.com/publicmeetings/board-of-directors-meeting-february-28-2019/

Refusing Action on State Audit Which Found Employee Paid to Not Show Up for Work 

No action can be taken by the Board regarding the 2016 state audit which found an employee paid over $70,000 to not show up for work for approximately eight months because the matter has been agendized as "Information Only" notwithstanding either the seriousness of the matter or the multiple requests by the public for action to resolve the issues which permitted this to occur. The same management are in place now as were during 2016 when the deal went down.  The Board refuses to take action to address the underlying issues which allowed these actions to occur. Download CDFA Unredacted 2016 Audit

Restricting Public Comments

New restrictions on public comment are in place for the February 2019 meeting. The new policy called a "Statement of Meeting Decorum" limits what can be said during public and agenda item comment:

Hiring a Private Investigator

Over $58,000 was spent with private investigation firm Morley Group during 2018 without either a contract being brought forward to the Board or an explanation given of why a private investigator needed to be hired.  Morley Group is being given another no bid contract SA -051-19YR (agendized in the Standard Agreements file as "professional services" in an attempt to conceal the true nature of the contract) for $49,000 for the period from February to July 2019.  There is no need for the Morley Group contract as the OC Fairgrounds can request the Orange County Sheriff's Department, Costa Mesa Police Department, California Highway Patrol and/or other state investigative services to conduct investigations.  

Board Director Nick Berardino requested hiring an outside performance auditor and presented a report at the May 2018 Board meeting.  Download Performance Auditor Request Board Directors requested action to move ahead on a performance auditor while staff have not followed up on the request. Now is the time to bring in an outside performance auditor and request the State Auditor for assistance. If there is money for a private investigator, there is money for a performance auditor. Maybe the performance auditor can find out why the private investigator was hired and report back.

Video Recording of Meetings

Board meetings are held on Thursday mornings at 9 AM, when few people can attend.  Board intent was to look into both live streaming and recording of meetings for later playback, but the agenda says "video recording." Staff and at least one Board Director have used the specific wording of an agenda item to throttle the intentions of Board Directors on prior matters.  A push needs to be made to have live streaming of meetings and archiving of meeting records despite wishes of staff and some Board Directors to the contrary. 

Increasing Oversight of Requests for Proposals and Capital Projects

A number of surprises in requests for proposals (RFP's) and capital projects have come to light in the past few months. Several examples are:

• Staff entered into a legally binding storm water management plan (SWMP) with the State Regional Water Quality Control Board (SRWQCB) in 2016, spent over $80,0000 on storm water consulting services, received a notice of violation for allowing runoff water from operations to enter the storm drain during 2018, and failed to let the Board know what was going on. Members of the public let the Board know about the SWMP in late 2018.
• Nature and scope of the effort undertaken by staff to rebrand the property was unknown to several Board Directors and the public until October 2018 at which time the contract was in place and work had been started.  Staff had written the scope of work without Board or public input. The contract left out the Equestrian Center and tilted the process towards becoming an events and entertainment center.
• Staff publicly stated that the much needed sound wall for the Action Sports Arena (ASA) was not planned to be built despite appearing in the budget for several years. Estimated costs of the sound wall are around $1 million, which is a small portion of the over $50 million in cash reserves. Staff had been leading on the Board and neighbors about building the Action Sports Arena sound wall.

Board Directors have requested to have input and oversight over how public money is spent on contracting and capital projects.  This is a good thing. 

Relocating A4 Skyhawk from Orange County Civic Center to OC Fairgrounds

Plans are being made to relocate the A4 Skyhawk currently located in the plaza at the Orange County Civic Center to the OC Fairgrounds and to place the plane near Heroes Hall Veterans Museum which would allow the plane to be used as part of the museum. Watchful eyes of the public are needed to insure that staff don't create an obstacle to this project. This is a great project. Are there other historic items which could be moved to the OC Fairgrounds?

Help us trace payments for meetings held regarding the OC Fairgrounds (aka Orange County Fair and Event Center or OCFEC)  Master Site Plan from October 2017 to  April 2018.  A total of $46,000 was spent on meetings outside of the September 2017 and April 2018 public meeting and which was not included in the original contract. Fairgrounds staff hasn't been able to explain what the $46,000 was spent on.

The companies and staff working on the project were:

C. H. Johnson Consulting: Charles Johnson

SWA: Elizabeth Shreeve

HPI Architecture: Lawrence (Larry) Frapwell, Megan Gaunce

The meetings and charges we need help with are:

If you met with the consultants between October 2017 and April 2018 outside of one of the public meetings described below, drop us a line at [email protected] because we want to learn more about how public money was spent. 

When Public Meetings Were Held

Public meetings were held at the September 2017 and the April 2018 Board meetings on Thursday mornings. A public workshop was held in The Hangar during June 2017.  Small group meetings for vendors, concessionaires, tenants, government entities, and community groups were held during the spring of 2017.

Heroes Hall Museum (Museum) is owned and operated by the 32nd District Agricultural Association (32nd DAA) which is the state agency owning and operating the OC Fairgrounds. The Museum was built by the state with the state providing most of the funding. Most of the funding for operations, outreach, and other needs comes from the state. The Public can make a donation directly to the Museum of money or historical items, but the donation is not tax deductible. Volunteer opportunities are available by contacting Museum staff.

Tandem, formerly known as California Performance Marketing Group (CPMG) was hired to sell premium space at the annual OC Fair (called Platinum Partners), sponsorships, and group ticket sales. In 2015, outside the view of the Public, a decision was made to eliminate the state employees selling year round event rentals and to outsource all year round event sales to Tandem.

Tandem is paid on commission and receives free office space at the OC Fairgrounds. The commission schedule is:

Sponsorship Sales

Cash from new sponsors, mobile marketing tours and premium space renters 15%

Cash from renewing sponsors, mobile marketing tours and premium space renters 8%

Sponsorship Trade

Budget-relieving trade, both new and renewing 3%

Incremental Cash

Incremental cash from renewing sponsors, mobile marketing tours, and premium space renters 15%

Event Sales

Cash from new events (rent only) 25%

Cash from first event renewal (rent only) 17%

Cash from subsequent event renewals (rent only) 8%

Group Ticket Sales

Cash from new group ticket sales (25 or more tickets) 15%

Cash from renewing group ticket sales (25 or more tickets) 8%

Tandem’s contract runs through 2018.  Download Tandem Contract Amendments

Tel Phil no longer operates the Orange County Market Place and has assigned the lease to Spectra. The lease runs through 2024 with a 10 year option to renew. Rent started at $1,700,000 per year in 2014 and increases to $2,668,500 in 2034.

A copy of the lease with amendments is here:  Download OC Market Place Agreement Amendments

Spectra, formerly known as Ovations, is a part of Comcast Spectacor, which has contracts to provide food, beverage and alcohol services at the OC Fairgrounds. Spectra pays a commission of 34% of gross sales of food and non-alcoholic beverages; 10% of gross catering sales; 40% of gross beer, wine and spirit sales; and 50% of the amount received by Spectra for commissions, fees or buyouts during events. Spectra holds the Alcoholic Beverage Control (ABC) license for the OC Fairgrounds because governmental agencies are not allowed to have ABC licenses. The contract runs until 2024.

Current Contract  Download Spectra Ovations Contract with Amendment

At the corner of Arlington Drive and Newport Blvd, across the street from TeWinkle Park, is the equestrian center. The approximately 7.5 acre facility includes stables, riding arenas, wash areas, and hot walkers, among other amenities. The facility is owned by the state and operated under contract with an outside operator. Terms of the operations contract include payment of the greater of $3000 per month or 10% of the operators gross revenue each month in addition to expenses specified in the contract. The agreement is on a month to month basis.

The current lease is here  Download Equestrian Center Lease

Yes, Directors receive gifts from companies the Fairgrounds does business with. The California Fair Political Practices Commission (FPPC) sets an annual limit on the amount of gifts an official can receive before having to recuse themselves from acting on items regarding the source of the gift. Gift limits are updated annually by the FPPC:

Directors have received passes valued at or just below the annual gift limit published by the FPPC from Ray Cammack Shows (RCS), the carnival and midway company.

Directors also receive gifts of food and beverages from Spectra, the onsite caterer who sells the alcohol.

The Master Site Plan process cost the Public who own the OC Fairgrounds $252,369, and the Public was allowed one (1) meeting to have input. Work on the Master Site Plan started in October 2016. Board members, executive management, staff, and contractors were given opportunities for input to steer the process before the Public was given their one (1) meeting in June 2016.

The contract cost was increased by 30% in October 2017 with the contract amendment not made public until December 2017. When CEO Kathy Kramer was asked why the 30% increase in the contract amount was needed, CEO Kramer could not explain why the additional funds were required or what would be done with the additional funds. CEO Kramer claimed that the scope of work or deliverables had not changed and that the schedule had not changed even though the contract now cost 30% more, which does not make sense. CEO Kramer also could not explain why the contract was extended by a year.  

The contract with the Master Site Plan contractor is here: Download Johnson Consulting Amended Agreement

The proposal for Master Site Plan services which is now defines the work to be performed is here:

 Download Johnson Consulting Response to OC Fair Master Site Plan MS-12-16 8.19.16...